The seasonal-labor pipeline that some contractors lean on just reopened, briefly. The three-day window to file H-2B applications for October 1 start dates opened July 3 and closed July 5, the earliest employers could get in line for the first-half allotment of fiscal 2027. It landed as the government confirmed a big supplemental round of visas for the current year.
The numbers
DHS and DOL made up to 64,716 additional H-2B visas available for fiscal 2026, with roughly 46,000 reserved for returning workers who held the visa in one of the last three years. H-2B is capped and heavily oversubscribed, so the filing windows have become a scramble. The program covers seasonal non-agricultural work, and parts of construction use it for landscaping, site, and finishing crews. Labor gaps keep delaying jobs like 566 West Van Buren and thousands of smaller ones.
The push for an H-2C
Industry groups want a construction-specific visa, an “H-2C,” built with compliance and safety standards, arguing the seasonal H-2B cap doesn’t fit year-round building work. As USCIS details, the current program remains capped and returning-worker weighted.
With more than nine in ten contractors reporting hiring trouble, the visa debate is less about ideology than about who staffs the next job.